”Spike.” Buffy eyed him carefully, not sure of what to expect. She had seen him over at the bar, so it was no surprise to her that he was here. Yet, she had not expected to run into him. She opened her mouth to say something more, then closed it again as she realized that she had no idea what to say.
“Um…” He hesitated, obviously taken by surprise as well. “Didn’t think you’d be here.” She looked confused so he hurried to explain; “I mean, after what happened…”
“Oh.” She had almost managed to put the events of last weekend out of her mind. But not completely. “Well, I’m here with some friends. No dancing. And definitely no drinking. Me and drinking don’t mix. We’re very… unmixy.”
He actually smiled a little at that. “Right.” Then he became serious. “Look, Buffy, I’m sorry about…”
She spoke before he had finished the sentence. “Really, you don’t have to apologize.”
He frowned. Why was he apologizing? He never apologized to anyone, about anything. In fact, he usually made an effort of being as rude as possible to make sure that people would stay away from him. So what was this about? He shook his head as if to clear it, then realized that she was still talking. “What?”
Buffy looked a little confused, then repeated her words. “I never thanked you for…” She swallowed. “For what you did. If you hadn’t showed up when you did…”
Spike waved his hand in dismissal. “Was nothing.”
She stared at him. “Not to me. You saved me from…” Not able to say the word ‘rape’, she just shook her head. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if it hadn’t been for you. Thank you.”
He had no idea what to say to that, so he just shrugged. For some reason he felt like his head was spinning. He hadn’t expected her to ever talk to him again after his outburst when she had entered his bedroom, and here she was now, thanking him? To say that he was confused would’ve been an understatement.
Unaware of his confusion, Buffy smiled a little. “Well, I better head back to…”
“Wait!” He grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving, eyes widening when he realized what he had just done. Clearing his throat nervously, he let go of her arm. Buffy gave him a questioning look, and he took a deep breath. “I mean it, I’m really sorry. I had a…” He hesitated, not wanting to explain, but for some reason feeling like he should. “Really, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Buffy gave him a smile she hoped would be assuring. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have…” Then she stopped, still not understanding what had caused him to freak out like that, but willing to let it go. She finished with a shrug; “Let’s just forget it.”
Spike gave her a doubtful look, then nodded. “All right.” He knew he should leave, but a part of him was reluctant. So he remained where he was, and for a moment, they just stood there, looking at each other. Then he snapped out of it and quickly took a step back. “I should, um…”
“Look, my friends and I have a table over there, why don’t you join us?” Her eyes widened immediately, shocked by herself for making the suggestion. Surely he wouldn’t want that, what had she been thinking? One look at him told her that he was as shocked as she was, although he tried to cover up.
“Um… I don’t think…” He looked away, not wanting to meet her eyes. “No, I’ll just…”
“Please?” Buffy didn’t know why she was being so persistent about it, it was obvious that he couldn’t wait to get away from her. But for some reason she just wasn’t ready for him to go. When he didn’t say anything, she took a deep breath and added; “Just for a little while?”
Spike just stared at her, suddenly at a loss for words. A little voice inside his head was screaming at him to run as far away as possible, yet he didn’t move. This was wrong, in so many ways. He had apologized, he should just leave it at that. He didn’t want to sit at some table and talk to people. It was bad enough that he was still here, talking to her. “All right.” He froze, not believing that he had just said that. This was bad, very bad. He should just leave, right now. But the happy smile that appeared on her face stopped him from doing just that.
“Great! Come on.” She grabbed his hand, trying to convince herself that it was simply so she wouldn’t lose him in the crowd, and started towards her table, completely missing the stunned look on his face. It only took a moment before they reached the table where her friends were waiting, after all, the club wasn’t that big.
“Hey, guys.” Buffy cleared her throat and glanced at Spike, then turned to Willow and Xander. “This is Spike. He’s…”
“I know who he is.” Xander gave Spike a brief look before turning back to Buffy. “Question is, what’s he doing here?”
Spike opened his mouth, about to respond with some snarky comment, then decided against it. He’d been around the bloke for about ten seconds, and already felt a desperate need to kick his ass. But the git was obviously a friend of Buffy’s, and he didn’t want to upset her. Once again he found himself wondering why the bloody hell he cared about her feelings. Yet, he remained silent.
“Xander…” Willow gave her friend a look of disapproval, then turned to Spike. “Um, hi, I’m Willow.” Then she looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
Spike was just about to tell Buffy he was leaving, when she spoke, an annoyed look on her face; “What’s that suppose to mean, Xander? I asked Spike to join us, do you have a problem with that?”
“Buffy…” Spike glared at Xander, then looked at Buffy. “I’ll just…”
“Actually, yes I do.” Xander crossed his arms over his chest and addressed Spike for the first time; “I don’t know what your game is, why you’re hanging with Buffy, but I don’t care. You’re not welcome here. Either you’ll leave, or I will.”
Spike raised a brow, clearly unimpressed. He opened his mouth to say something, but Buffy beat him to it, glaring at Xander. “If you can’t be nice, maybe you should leave.
Xander stared at her in shock, opening his mouth to object, but was interrupted by Spike, looking at Buffy. “Never mind, pet, m'out of here."
Buffy gave him a pleading look, which he chose to ignore. “Really, you don’t have to…”
He interrupted her, giving her hand a small squeeze, mostly to annoy Xander. “See you around, luv.” With that he turned around and left, not looking back once.
She stared after him for a moment, then turned to Xander. “Happy now? What’s the matter with you?” Then she glanced at Willow, expecting her to say something, but the red-head kept her eyes on the floor.
“Me?!” Xander stared at her in disbelief.
Buffy glared at him. “What has Spike ever done to you?”
Xander was quiet for a moment. Then he got a stubborn look on his face. “Well, nothing. But…” He hesitated. “But that’s only because I’ve stayed out of his way so far. And I plan on keeping it that way. Seriously, Buff, I don’t see why…” He paused, then rolled his eyes. “Oh, I get it. Are you sleeping with him? Is that why you suddenly want him around?”
Willow looked up then, staring at him with wide eyes. “Xander!”
Buffy gasped in shock, then swallowed. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
Xander had the decency to look ashamed. He looked away for a moment. “I’m sorry.” Then he sighed. “Look, I’ll just go, okay? It’s getting late anyway, and…” He let out a nervous laugh. “Talk to you later.” He gave them a small smile before turning around and heading towards the exit, leaving Buffy and Willow to stare after him.
TBC
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'll try to post one more chapter before Christmas, most likely on sunday. Thank you all of you who read this story and take your time to let me know what you think, your support means the world to me! *hugs*